Vokey Wedge Fitting

[elballz12]

I went today to Golfsmith and tried out some new wedges, I liked the feel of the Vokey SM5s the best and seemed to be what i was looking for in a wedge. The employee gave me a 50, 54, and a 58; I hit around 10 balls each and had some numbers that I saved. My questions is i want to make sure I have a big enough gap between the wedges. On the average I hit the 50 118 yards, I hit the 54 106, and with the 58 I hit it 89 yards. Just curious if this is a big enough gap and if not what is suggested. Any help would be great!

[CleSwag]

10-15 yard gap seems about right to me. Any less and it is too close and any more you start getting into some difficult club decisions.

[setter02]

Gaping isn't that huge an issue when dealing with SW and LW's as more often then not your going to be playing a shot less that full. Utility is more of the focus on the LW, and to a little lesser extent the SW. I like GW's to be an extention of the iron set as they will likely be used for 3/4 to full shots and may be a preferred chipping club.

[tbowles411]

[quote name='CleSwag' timestamp='1408021877' post='9930991']
10-15 yard gap seems about right to me. Any less and it is too close and any more you start getting into some difficult club decisions.
[/quote]
Agreed. That's just about perfect. As I told a buddy, I can hit a SW a 100 yards, but why would I? That's why I have a GW, so I don't have to!

[elballz12]

Thank y'all for the help, I just wanted a second opinion before I purchased them. Also any suggestions on bounce/grinds?

[Manz60]

Use loft to help control distance. Its not how far you hit a wedge but rather hitting the wedge far enough.You never want to over hit a wedge.

[u]Typical Loft Interval[/u]:
PW/SW/LW - 5-6°
PW/AW/SW - 4°

Consider a 4th wedge and the distance gaps get even smaller for better accuracy (ie long and short) especially when you combine the # of wedges with different length backswings, all swung with the same constant rhythm, letting the length of the swing control the distance of the shot.

M60

[AdamWestAustralia]

50, 54 & 58 is a good wedge setup, as is 50, 54 & 60 or just a 50 & 56 or PW 54 & 60 or any other combination you can think of really.

Wedge set up is more about making sure you have loft and bounce combinations to play the shots you require as opposed to hitting specific yardage gaps. Perhaps with the exception of my PW and occasionally GW it would be very rare to hit a full wedge shot and I never hit a full SW or LW so gaping isn't as big a concern as flexibility of playing all the shots you require around the green.

I choose to pick a SW first that is suitable for 3/4 to 1/3 pitch shots and chip and runs. I make sure it has the loft I feel comfortable with and enough bounce to cover a variety of conditions but still allow for opening of the blade when required. For this I chose 10* bounce, depending on your technique you may feel comfortable with either less or more.

Then I fill the gap between the SW and PW with a wedge that is a little more suited to 1/2 to full shots. This for me means slightly less bounce (6* for me though you might need more or less) and picking a loft that gets the carry distance of a full shot to carry to where I feel it should gap off the PW.

Finally I choose a LW that I feel has enough loft that I couldn't just open the SW a little to cover with less bounce that the SW to allow for different lies in a grind that allows for the blade to be laid way open if needed.

[Golf64]

Perfect wedge set up, IMO. Just make sure you get the right bounce/grind combo.